Saving Jace

Altering is most often about adding something to a card to make it special and unique. Ever so often, it's about saving a card on its last legs.

About a month ago I was presented with perhaps my most extensive and difficult restoration project to date. The card in question: an original foil Jace, the Mind Sculptor. The card was in awful shape. It had been altered previously, perhaps to hide other damage (neither I, nor the owner have the full story). The paint job was done very poorly, acrylic caked on like frosting and covering most of the foil as well. There were some dings visible along the sides and back. The condition was so horrible, the owner didn't bat an eye when I asked if I could gently scratch the surface to see if any of the paint would come off. I didn't have any delicate tools on hand, so I ever so gently rubbed it with my house key. A chip came off without damaging the card further. I was hopeful something could be done, with the caveat that there was no bringing this card back to pack fresh quality.

I feel a little uncomfortable showing the full card in it's original state. After all, this is someones alter job and for all I know they were proud of the result. That said, here's a small crop:

And here we have the card after most of the paint was removed. I quickly discovered that the card had also been acetoned to some extent.

At first I wasn't sure how to approach this mess I found under all that paint. Eventually I settled on simply restoring the Jace and some of the frame. I didn't want to cover all the foil, as the previous alteration had done, so I cleaned it up as best I could, removing stray remnants of printing with, sorry to say, a little acetone of my own. 

Ultimately it felt like the greater good. I hope Jace can put this all behind him and seek out a better life that I'm sure awaits in his future.

It's Finally Complete

My Nouveau Moxes appeared on this blog earlier in the year. I shared the Nouveau Lotus via a GatheringMagic article just two short months ago. And now, with an Ancestral Recall, Timetwister, and Time Walk finished over the past two weeks, the full set is finally complete. A lot of hours of planning, priming, and painting, and we're here.

Let's see those last three a little closer...

I hope you enjoyed! As always, see more work every week posted to my Facebook. The link to which is located on the right side of this blog. 

- Eric

No, The Other Madonna

The past couple of days have seen me working on two different takes on the classical image of Madonna and Child. The latest one is based off Fra Filippo Lippi's Madonna and Child with Angels, circa 1455. One of the older inspirations for a piece, and one of the most detailed. Let's get to it!

Click image for larger view.

Mucha's Moxes

You'll notice by first set of altered Moxes above in the header, modeled after Terese Niesen's famous Guru lands. And today, I get to unveil my second, lending tribute to Alphonse Mucha.

Hello Dave

I've had this idea in my back pocket for a while. I've done time lapse video of my process in the past, and a couple of animated gifs compiling process photos, but never anything this extensive. Each frame is 5-10 min of work. I kept myself on an egg timer for over four hours. Very pleased to show the result!

And here's the finished card:

Television Inspiration

Recently finished this Candelabra and it got me thinking...

Television and movies are such great sources for inspiration in altering, sometimes I forget I've painted so many connected characters. I decided to look into the matter.

One of my more prolific muses comes as no surprise.

The other might, but shouldn't.

And finally, four that come from some personal favorites.

Happy New Year!

We've more than a week into the new year and I've already produced a variety of alters with a wide range of styles. Let's do a little recap!

New frame; classic Douglas Shuler art.

I know kung fu.

Happy little Berserk.

Mass Effect's Legion.

Jabba's Palace.

An old 80's favorite.

Going for that illuminated manuscript feel. 

After a 16th century woodcut of St. George.

I'm fairly pleased with what's already come out of this year - and there's lots more to look forward to. The completion of my Nouveau Power 9, some new styles I've been brewing up, and the release of Gatecrash of course! Keep checking in!